Dynamics of a wetting layer and Marangoni convection in microgravity
BEYSENS, Daniel
Physique et mécanique des milieux hétérogènes [PMMH]
Service des Basses Températures [SBT ]
< Leer menos
Physique et mécanique des milieux hétérogènes [PMMH]
Service des Basses Températures [SBT ]
Idioma
en
Article de revue
Este ítem está publicado en
Physical Review E : Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics. 2011, vol. 84, n° 2, p. 021202
American Physical Society
Resumen en inglés
Near the liquid-vapor critical point in pure fluids, material and thermal properties vary considerably with temperature. In a series of microgravity experiments, sulfur hexafluoride (SF<sub>6</sub>) was heated ∼1 K above ...Leer más >
Near the liquid-vapor critical point in pure fluids, material and thermal properties vary considerably with temperature. In a series of microgravity experiments, sulfur hexafluoride (SF<sub>6</sub>) was heated ∼1 K above its critical temperature, then quenched below the critical temperature in order to form gas and liquid domains. We found a power law exponent of 0.389 ± 0.010 for the growth of the wetting layer thickness during the intermediate stage of phase separation. Full and microscopic view images of the sample cell unit were analyzed to determine the changes in the size distribution of liquid droplets inside the gas phase over time. We found that the distribution of diameters for liquid droplets always contains a fraction of very small droplets, presumably due to a continuous nucleation process. At the same time, the size distribution flattens over time and rapidly includes large-size droplets, presumably generated through a coalescence mechanism. By following both a large gas bubble over two hours of video recordings, we found periodic and synchronous motion of the gas bubble along both the x and y directions. By following a large liquid droplet embedded into the large gas bubble, we found periodic, out of phase motions, which we related to Marangoni convection. The experimentally measured velocity of the liquid droplet is in good agreement with the theoretical predicted velocity of ∼0.386 μm/s obtained from Young's thermocapillary effect.< Leer menos
Palabras clave en inglés
Microgravity
Convection
Dynamics
Layers
Orígen
Importado de HalCentros de investigación